What does a hospital birth mean to you?

[Sara R]

The other side's repsonse to that: http://skepticalob.blogspot.com/2011/08/hypocrisy-and-mendacity-of-big-push-for.html

 

That sounds bad (and it is meant to) until you understand that the rating system for clinical guidelines: A (good and consistent evidence), B (limited or inconsistent evidence), or C (consensus and opinion). In other words, there IS scientific evidence for ACOG recommendations, but not all of it is of the same quality.

 

What's hypocritical and mendacious about the press release from The Big Push for Midwives?

 

When it comes to the practices exclusive to homebirth midwifery, 0% meet Level A guidelines!

 

... and 0% meet Level B guidelines; and even 0% meet the lowest level, Level C guidelines. That's because there is NO evidence of any kind to support the practices exclusive to homebirth midwifery.

 

Homebirth in the US- no evidence of efficacy or safety

Refusing postdates induction- no evidence of efficacy or safety

The Brewer diet- no evidence of efficacy or safety

Home VBAC- no evidence of efficacy or safety

Herbs - no evidence of efficacy or safety

Chiropractic in pregnancy - no evidence of efficacy or safety

[swellmomma]

My kids were born in/will be born in a hospital. The two outside the womb were born in a maternity hospital and TBA will be born in a local general hospital.

 

My experience has been big birthing rooms with cable TV, a recliner, rocking chair and private bath. Kind nurses who encouraged me to get up and walk around. Lots of help with nursing when I needed it. My babies sleeping in hospital bassinets right beside me from the get-go. They never left the room I was in if I wasn't right with them. When my son was born the anesthesiologist even bought the kids stuffed toys because my son was going to have the same name as him! There was no cold, sterile, stress-filled experience.

 

It's probably why I never understood some of the opposition to hospital births or appeal of midwives and home births here until I just read a thread were it was mentioned babies were still being sent to the nursery. In 2011?? Wow.

 

So I just wonder now if my experience was rare, some special Canuckistan privilege or those of us with good hospital birth stories just tend to be quieter about it.

 

 

Well as a fellow canuck I have not had the same experience as you each time. With #1 I had an unplanned c-section, the pain meds did not work, I was in a shared room with 3 other people, after 3 days I was discharged but got to room in with 3 other women again while ds was in the NICU.

 

baby #2 different hospital, due to staining in the water when it broke and being a vbac I had to be strapped to the bed to constant monitoring. I had a private room, but didn't get to enjoy it. baby born at 10:35 pm I was discharged at 9:30am the next day.

 

baby #3 water broke at 35 weeks, had a private tiny room for 1 week, then induced in a room with 8 other women, though once I was ready to actually deliver I was put in a private delivery room and then moved to a shared recovery room 2 hours after he was born, with a very loud woman that had her very loud guests stay until 2am! I got almost no sleep for both nights I was there.

 

Baby #4 had her in the back of an ambulance after a nurse sent me home saying I was not in labour. They gave me a private room when we arrived after their mess up (she was a preemie too). After 48 hours I was discharged but allowed to room in with 3 other moms while she was in the NICU. Due to their mess up they also let me room in longer than is typical- usually you only get 2 days, I had the week.

 

A hospital birth to me means, baby's getting the help they need (3 were preemies, the one full term was at risk and needed the pulmonary team on hand because of the staining), but it also means not being allowed to have full control of my own body, no privacy, no sleep, no time to recover before being shipped to a new room or discharged completely.

 

All 4 were in big cities, the 2 boys at the same hospital, dd12 in the hosp from my old hometown, and dd3 a different hosp with a nicu. If I ever had another I would still do a hospital birth but would plan to have it at the hospital I had dd12 at (I planned for all 4 to be at that one but they will not deliver babies before 36 weeks, and 3 of mine were before that)

[Runningmom80]

Well, I actually opted for my babies to go to the nursery at night, but they could have stayed in my room. All three were given formula, after losing too much weight. I went on to BF my older DS for 21 months, and my twins are still nursing at 14 months, so the formula doesn't really bother me. My twins were with me the entire time, in recovery and in my room, except for at night. I knew I wasn't going to sleep once I went home, so I took full advantage of those night nurses. I'm pretty crunchy too, I just had to think pragmatically. :lol: don't worry, we did lots of kangaroo-ing and nursing. I fully bonded with them. :001_smile:

 

 

I had a sort of traumatic labor experience with my older DS, and I wanted to go med free after him, but I ended up pg with twins, and needed an emergency csection, so that idea went out the window. Both births would have ended horribly had I been at home, so I don't really get too upset about the hospital crap. Yes, I wish they did some of that stuff differently, but I can't really complain, because I don't think any of us are suffering any long term effects. :D

[Momof3littles]

The other side's repsonse to that: http://skepticalob.blogspot.com/2011/08/hypocrisy-and-mendacity-of-big-push-for.html

 

Oh, Dr. Amy. Let's say I don't put much stock in her opinion. She has been a very vocal voice against midwifery for years, and if memory serves, she's not a licensed physician any longer yet continues to represent herself as such.

 

She's well known in the natural birth/homebirth community. She's spent years making it her mission to pick on HB and midwifery on message boards, in the comments section of news articles, etc. Her responses tend to be...vehement.

 

ACOG is obviously concerned enough to have looked at this issue on two occasions now.

Edited September 3, 2011 by Momof3littles

[FaithManor]

My kids were born in/will be born in a hospital. The two outside the womb were born in a maternity hospital and TBA will be born in a local general hospital.

 

My experience has been big birthing rooms with cable TV, a recliner, rocking chair and private bath. Kind nurses who encouraged me to get up and walk around. Lots of help with nursing when I needed it. My babies sleeping in hospital bassinets right beside me from the get-go. They never left the room I was in if I wasn't right with them..

 

So I just wonder now if my experience was rare, some special Canuckistan privilege or those of us with good hospital birth stories just tend to be quieter about it.

 

 

I had the same experience you had. My sons were all delivered by midwives in the hospital. Very homey setting...I had shower, tub and as much time in them as I wanted. I wasn't hooked up to monitors all the time and since I didn't ask for an epidural, I didn't have IV's (except after ds #2 was born when I started to bleed out - they had to start one right away). No episiotomies, no tearing, almond oil peritoneum massage, the best labor nurses anyone could ever ask for, and baby with me at all times. We said what we wanted (no hep b vaccines, etc.) and were never questioned in anyway. I was given light food (rice and vegetable soup, toast, applesauce, etc.), any clear liquid I wanted to drink - we were asked one week prior to due date to specify our favorite clear liquids (mine was La Croix sparkling lime water) and popsicle flavors and these were on hand - and we were treated like royalty. My midwives and the nurses signed our ds's babybooks and we have pictures of the midwives and labor nurses holding our babies. I sent flowers and a fruit basket to the floor after each birth. Very beautiful memories!

 

Since I am chronically anemic and low in potassium and another clotting factor, home birth was never and option so I am very, very thankful for my lovely hospital births.

 

Now, the one in 1991 with dd.....the nurses were great. That doctor...I'd probably still deck him dead in the face if I ever saw him again and it's been 20 years!

 

Faith

[Sara R]

I had an impersonal cold experience with the c-section for breech I had with my oldest, so I chose someone who seemed to be a kind and experienced midwife with my second, a home VBAC attempt.

 

My labor didn't progress normally, and that midwife who seemed so nice turned out not to be. All of her vaginal exams were extremely painful. I thought she just wasn't skilled. It turned out she was manually dilating my cervix without my consent! Later I found out that she had done that to other clients!!

 

I was in painful labor that was preventing me from sleeping, even though I was only at 2 cm (which I had been at for the last month). The midwife was extremely dismissive of my pain, treating me like I was a wimpy baby.

 

Eventually I had to transport to the hospital because he wasn't coming down, he was showing distress, and I was getting a fever. The hospital people didn't have to be nice to me--I'm sure they had major disagreements with my choice to attempt a home birth--but they were kind and professional. They respected my wishes. The OB with the most natural-birth-friendly reputation agreed to take me on even though he wasn't on call and I had never seen him. They saved me and my baby and made it a pleasant experience.

 

Midwife/home birth does not equal nice loving homey experience, and hospital birth does not equal cold horrible place. And you don't really know how your midwife will act until you are in labor. My midwife has a great reputation for kindly helping with normal labors. But I never got to the point (despite a 30 hour labor) where I was worthy of her help in her mind, because I just didn't dilate. And there were no outside witnesses, just me and my family, so she didn't even hurt her reputation.

Edited September 3, 2011 by Sara R

[Annie]

I was a homebirth transfer turned csection. I didn't transfer in distress, we were both perfectly healthy when we went into surgery. I have no qualms with my csection - it was necessary. I was told that, if we were both in good shape, my baby would be brought to me in recovery. We were both perfectly stable, but some nurse was on some sort of power trip (or punishing me for having a homebirth?) and wouldn't release him from the nursery. I was too drugged up to fight as much as I would have under normal circumstances. They gave him the vitamin K shot even though I signed the waiver. My midwife who transferred with me watched them administer the shot through the glass at the nursery. It *is not* in his medical records that they gave it to him, but the fact that I refused it is in there about 10 times.

 

Once I could move my toes (and thus transfer out of recovery and finally touch my baby), it happened to be 15 minutes before shift change. There was a policy stating that there were no patient transfers in the last or first 15 minutes of a shift. That was another half hour of my baby sitting in the nursery without me. I was a bawling mess by that point crying for my baby. I spent so much time willing and praying for my toes to just move, and then when they did, I was still told no.

 

I didn't get to see him for *three hours* after he was born even though we were both stable.

 

We had some breastfeeding challenges (big surprise), and even though he had no signs of jaundice, his blood sugar levels were fine, and he was having dirty diapers a nurse tried to convince my sister to talk me into giving him formula. Luckily my sister has more sense than that and didn't say a word until weeks later. That nurse would have heard it from me for trying to go around me to my family.

 

I received some of the world's worst breastfeeding advice, including but not limited to:

 

*You only have to feed him for 10 minutes one each side, he's not getting anything after that. My son was an inefficient nurser at first, he would never have gotten enough milk, and my supply would have tanked.

 

*You're going to spoil him by feeding him so often. Yeah, my three day old is playing me for a fool when he cries and roots around. :glare:

 

and my personal favorite by the idiot doctor who did my son's discharge exam...

 

*There's no way your milk has come in if your bre@sts aren't engorged. My wife breastfed three babies, and her bre@sts were always hard as rocks when her milk came in. Well, if that's the case maybe he should have referred me to someone who could help me stop the white fluid from coming out when my son sucked then...

 

 

There is some more, but I really don't feel like crying tonight, so I'm going to leave it out. Really though, I had some excellent nurses, and if it would have been a zero complication, natural delivery, with no breastfeeding issues, I'm sure it would have been a completely different experience. Any further births need to be csections due to a surgical complication, and I'm not excited to go back, but I'm not afraid either. I will be a better advocate next time because I will know what to expect.

[Lawana]

TMI

Edited September 3, 2011 by Lawana
TMI

[Heather in Neverland]

I :001_wub::001_wub::001_wub: epidurals. :D

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

[wapiti]

I had all my six in two different hospitals - one big-city university teaching hospital, and one somewhat smaller, very new private hospital in a different state. In all cases, rooming-in was the default (not counting my nicu premies, of course), and breastfeeding was strongly encouraged ASAP.

 

My first was a scheduled section for breech. The rest were all vbacs, including my 33-week twins. I was taking anticoagulants, so the pregnancies had a high risk aspect. One vbac was unmedicated; for the rest I had epidurals (my choice).

 

I have no complaints, and wouldn't change a thing.

[PinkInTheBlue]

My 3 hospital births looked like this: instant, nonstop monitoring from the moment you get in a room, instant and non-negotiable heplock is the best case scenario (you have to fight not to be instantly attached to an IV poring saline in you from moment one), internal monitoring as soon as possible, no tubs so no water laboring even an option, absolutely nothing to eat or drink no matter what (you can beg for ice chips if you promise to chew about 1 chip an hour), after a bit of bonding time they bathe the baby in room but insist on taking them to the nursery to ensure their temps are stabilized, the baby can stay in your room but they gather them all to the nursery for every shift change (non-negotiable), someone is in your room to take your temperature or draw blood or take you blood pressure every hour to two hours day and night, ...

 

That's all I can think of right now. Pretty much imagine the most miserable situation possible and you've got it. We actually have a very big medical area here and both big hospitals are really proud of their new pretty birthing suites but the only thing I noticed that had "advanced" themselves in childbirth from when my 13 year old was born to when the 5 year old was born was they now bathe the newborns in the birth suite and the room was prettier. Much like gift wrapping poo. :)

 

Our last night there my husband actually verbally fought with the night nurse who barged in our dark room, flipped on the overhead lights while announcing it was time to draw blood AGAIN. He told her to leave, she said no, etc. I just couldn't do it anymore. It was positively hellish. I wouldn't/couldn't have a homebirth but very little was ever like the wonderful stories I often hear.

[8circles]

I would say each one of my experiences at 3 different hospitals in 2 different states with 3 different OB's was much like yours.

 

First was induced on my due date which was a rookie mistake on my part. The OB claimed that the baby was going to be HUGE & needed to come out pronto. Come to find out later she was going on vaca & wanted me done prior. Horrible labor & c/s delivery because baby wasn't ready & wasn't huge either (8 lbs) but was sunnyside up. Besides the OB's bad judgement, the hospital experience was great & I don't think about it with any tears. Great nurses who really tried to help the situation with movement & positioning but I needed a lot of drugs to cope with the pain. Excrutiating.

 

3 VBACs that were basically uneventful. Private rooms, overall good nurses, breastfeeding support, the whole bit.

 

The few Canadians I know who gave birth in Canada have very different experiences from yours.

 

ETA: My VBAC's were all actually somewhat induced. I was post-dates on all of them (6 days, 10 days, 13 days) & as soon as I thought I was in actual labor (timing contractions 3 minutes apart, can't speak during, etc) I would go to the hospital & then labor would stop. So I was given pitocin for all of my VBAC's.

Edited September 3, 2011 by momoflaw

[Hypatia.]

DS1 was born in a hospital. While it wasn't a negative experience as first births go it wasn't anything I wanted to repeat. When I think back (he just turned 7 today so I've been thinking about it a lot today), I remember being crowded by strangers, the nurse turnover in my room and unwelcome comments from them as I was trying to push, feeling like I never had any privacy, one of them trying to force an IV in my hand after I had refused, exams that left me feeling physically violated (these were triggering for me, I have great difficulty with exams and that was the last time I ever permitted one during pregnancy or labor), I felt like I had no rights or no dignity, I spent the entire time refusing unwanted interventions. That was just my personal experience with giving birth in a hospital. My girls were born at home with a midwife and my second son was born at home unassisted.

[Farrar]

I didn't read most of the responses. I had a planned homebirth that turned into a hospital birth. Many of the things were good - and I certainly got the medical care I needed, and, with a LOT of advocacy on the part of my doulas, most of the things I didn't want didn't end up happening.

 

But, there were a lot of cruddy things, like not being allowed to eat for more than 24 hours. Also, having someone come in and wake me up literally EVERY SINGLE HOUR all night long. And the nurses kept trying to take my babies away from me and acting like it would have been a favor to me. Then, when I left early, (to get some freaking sleep!!!) the nurses came in and tried to guilt me out about it as if it was some personal comment on them. Don't you like us? What the bleep does it have to do with you?!? I just want to go home with my babies! Oh, and the nurse who actually said to me, "I'm not going to LET you take your baby home unless you can show me you know how to use the bulb syringe" after I made a brush off comment about it instead of demonstrating it to her. Ah, and the "LC" who tried to get me to give the babies formula and grabbed my nipple without my permission.

 

So, that sort of treatment - being patronized, dealing with staff who seem to think your birth is all about them, being threatened with having my kid taken away over a lame, sleep-deprived joke, being told I had to formula feed - that's what I think of as a hospital birth.

[8circles]

I :001_wub::001_wub::001_wub: epidurals. :D

Yo tambien.

 

I always said that if they sold them on the street I'd totally be in trouble. They are heav-en.

[Veritaserum]

My oldest was born in a high-tech teaching hospital. My baby and I both were subjected to non-evidence-based care. We suffered minor complications from unnecessary medical prodcedures. I was humiliated and treated as a non-person. My baby was taken from me soon after her (vaginal) birth and I didn't see her again for four hours. The reason? They gave her a bath in the nursery and her body temp dropped. Rather than putting her skin-to-skin with me, they kept her in a warmer. She's 11 and I'm still ticked about the poor care we received.

 

My next four children were born at home because the risks of a hospital birth (inherent risks of birth PLUS the risks of all the stupid things the hospitals near me insist on) were greater than the risks of home birth (risks inherent to birth).

 

Dh and I are hoping for another baby and I'm 95% sure that I will do a hospital birth this time because we have a new hospital an hour away that DOESN'T require things like heplocks or IVs and continuous monitoring; doesn't restrict movement or food/drink; and actually encourages unmedicated childbirth. Babies room with their mamas by default. Like I said, the hospital is an hour away from my home, but it is the only hospital I will consider since safety in birth practices is a top priority for me. I want evidence-based care and that just isn't available at most of the hospitals in my area. I'm not willing to compromise on safety just because it's hospital policy. And I'm not willing to negotiate things or argue for what I want while I'm busy having a baby.

[Annie]

So, that sort of treatment - being patronized, dealing with staff who seem to think your birth is all about them, being threatened with having my kid taken away over a lame, sleep-deprived joke, being told I had to formula feed - that's what I think of as a hospital birth.

 

Oh, the patronization! I don't do well with people who treat me like I'm subhuman. The hospital was full of them.

 

The final insult was when we were about to be discharged (I literally had my purse in my hand), and they told us we couldn't leave without watching the, "How to take care of your baby movie." My husband and I sat there for an hour and a half watching this movie telling us how many different ways we could kill our baby. I know shaken baby syndrome is a real problem, but this was *way* overkill. It went on and on forever. My baby was laying there sleeping and all I was thinking was how I could be sleeping too.

[MrsBasil]

Other thoughts. Even when I was given pitocin and started contracting, I was offered food, water, popsicles, ice...whatever I wanted. I wanted a certain type of popsicle and the nurses told DH if he did go get them, they'd label them and put them in a freezer for me. I was never prevented from having water or food.

 

I was offered the use of a birthing ball for comfort and if labor had progressed I would have been offered a birthing stool. I was free to move around the room up until I was given an epidural. The epidural was not for pain management, but because I'd been contracting for hours with no dilation and the mw/ob thought relaxing/sleeping might help. It didn't. I went from 2 cm to 0.5 cm.

 

The staff knew I wanted to nurse and no one mentioned formula to me, except to tell me about the bag that Similac had sent. The nurse told me I could donate the formula, but the bag was handy. :001_smile:

 

I'm having another baby in 2 months, but this will be a scheduled c-section. We'll see how it goes!

[Parker Martin]

I like the hospital here. The rooms look more like living rooms, the people are nice, the baby stays in the room (unless there's a medical emergency or you request that they take the baby to the nursery), and the lactation consultants are pushy. I found that last one annoying, but the hospital certainly supports breastfeeding; they will not leave you alone about it. You only have to be hooked up to monitoring equipment if you have an epidural or drugs of some kind.

 

Note: I nursed both of my kids exclusively for well over a year each, so don't take my comment about lactation consultants to mean that I'm anti-breastfeeding. I'm just anti-badgering.

[BigMamaBird]

My kids were born in/will be born in a hospital. The two outside the womb were born in a maternity hospital and TBA will be born in a local general hospital.

 

My experience has been big birthing rooms with cable TV, a recliner, rocking chair and private bath. Kind nurses who encouraged me to get up and walk around. Lots of help with nursing when I needed it. My babies sleeping in hospital bassinets right beside me from the get-go. They never left the room I was in if I wasn't right with them. When my son was born the anesthesiologist even bought the kids stuffed toys because my son was going to have the same name as him! There was no cold, sterile, stress-filled experience.

 

It's probably why I never understood some of the opposition to hospital births or appeal of midwives and home births here until I just read a thread were it was mentioned babies were still being sent to the nursery. In 2011?? Wow.

 

So I just wonder now if my experience was rare, some special Canuckistan privilege or those of us with good hospital birth stories just tend to be quieter about it.

 

Nope. That's my exact experience. I've had wonderful hospital births and wouldn't do anything differently.

[funschooler5]

I agree with PPs comments about patronizing doctors and nurses. I've had 3 "natural" deliveries, two in the hospital and one at home.

 

My first 2 children were born in the hospital. My first child was a very fast labor (4 hours). I'd planned to do a natural childbirth, and the nurse told me since this was my first baby, my labor had a long way to go. That freaked me out a little because my labor was getting intense very fast. I asked to get into the labor tub (which actually turned out to be about the size of a regular bathtub :glare:). As soon as I sat down, I hit transition and I told DH to ring for the nurse. She came in, very put out that she'd set up the tub for me and I was only in it a minute. Well, she finally checked to see how dilated I was, and DD was born a few minutes later.

 

2nd baby was also born at the hospital. We rushed there as soon as my water broke (my water breaks before labor starts) and we knew my first time was fast. My doctor was on vacation, so I had the rudest on-call doctor in the world. I kept trying to change positions (I'd read just about every book on natural childbirth, and in the books the doctors are always encouraging you to move around). Not this guy. He kept looking at me like I was crazy. Then, he says "I'm going to do the episiotomy now." I said, "I don't need and episiotomy, I didn't have one with my first delivery." He gets all disgusted and says, "Well, if you want to tear, go ahead." :glare::glare: After a 3 hr labor, DS was born.....9lbs 1oz, NO tears.

 

Baby #3 was a waterbirth at home. I had no testing during my pregnancy. No needles poked into me during labor. My midwife stayed nearby but left me alone (my choice). I moved around when I wanted to, got into the pool when I wanted, had ONLY the people I wanted there. DD was born after a 5 hr labor, I delivered her myself. There were no bright lights, DD was so calm, she didn't cry at all. I held her in the pool for about a half an hour....midwife stayed away, no cutting the cord, "cleaning" the baby, nothing until I said it was time. It was absolutely peaceful. After the delivery I stayed in my own bed. Here is the thing I wasn't expecting. I had ZERO pain after delivery. None. My midwife said it was because I was left alone...nobody told me when to push. It all happened naturally.

 

I will definitely be doing a homebirth for baby #4!

[peachskittles]

I've had six hospital births and they varied from hospital to hospital.

 

The first two were alright. I stayed the entire time in my room. I was encouraged to get comfortable however possible. I was young and really didn't take advantage of it but it was offered. The only thing that really was frustrating was the really, really LOUD woman in the room next to me the second time. I didn't sleep that night. I went home as soon as I could.

 

The next one was complete and total hell. I birthed in one room where I was not allowed to move at all, then was sent down the hall to the after delivery room (whatever you want to call it). It was seriously claustrophobic for me because the room seemed to be the size of a closet. There was more to this birth but it causes me great stress to go into details.

 

The fourth one was my most awesome hospital visit ever. Big room, nice nurses, caring doctors...yea, it was truly amazing. I got to eat when I was hungry, walk when I wanted to during labor, spend as much time as possible with the baby, oh and this place instilled the confidence in me to breastfeed for the first time ever. I would go back to this hospital again if I could.

 

The fifth and sixth times were out here in a very outdated hospital. You birthed down the hall from the after baby rooms (ok I know these actually have a name but go with it), so you couldn't go anywhere. Well, not that there was anywhere you could go. No forced IV, constant baby monitoring, nice nurses, the doctors were pretty open minded. The rooms for after confused me. It was decent sized rom but no shower IN the room. So I had to walk down the hall to take a shower in this room the size of a closet. They closed that hospital down at the end of June and opened a new one. I hope I get to try it out because it sounds much nicer. My SO has told me no getting pregnant just to try out the new hospital. He is being completely unfair, lemme tell ya. :tongue_smilie:

[Annie Laurie]

 

It's probably why I never understood some of the opposition to hospital births or appeal of midwives and home births here until I just read a thread were it was mentioned babies were still being sent to the nursery. In 2011?? Wow.

 

So I just wonder now if my experience was rare, some special Canuckistan privilege or those of us with good hospital birth stories just tend to be quieter about it.

 

I had a fairly positive hospital birth with my first and a very positive hospital birth with my second.

 

With my second, there was no pressure at all, from anyone there, about my requests to not have an IV, to not be hooked up to monitors and confined to the bed, I could walk around, I was given as much privacy as I requested. My OB was awesome- she was very supportive of natural birth and breastfeeding. My dh even did the catching and I held my son and nursed him right away. They were very respectful of our birth plan. He roomed in with me and was never out of my sight.

 

But I still prefer homebirth. A hospital just can't compare to the comfort of being in my own home. There is nothing better than getting in my own bed after the birth. And there are only the germs the baby has already been exposed to in the womb, I can sleep better, nursing is more comfortable.

 

They were respectful at the hospital but there was still (well-meaning) bad advice I had to tune out.

 

And more than anything, it goes back to my overall philosophy about childbirth. I don't think it's a medical event that needs to take place in a hospital. (I am speaking for healthy mothers with no complications or risk factors during pregnancy).

[daughterofsarah77]

It means safety. My dd was born with a serious birth defect, and had she not been in the hospital, without medical intervention being prompt, she would not be here. Too many people assume that things always go right, and while they do the majority of time, what if?

[Momof3littles]

It means safety. My dd was born with a serious birth defect, and had she not been in the hospital, without medical intervention being prompt, she would not be here. Too many people assume that things always go right, and while they do the majority of time, what if?

 

I think of it this way. Homebirth/out of hospital birth comes with risks. I think it is ridiculous to ignore that. Hospital birth comes with its own set of risks. Those are not talked about as often IME. Interventions that aren't evidenced-based, the high c/s rate, etc. all come with risks as well. IF we are talking about low risk women who are good HB candidates, giving birth with an appropriate attendant, etc. then homebirth is a safe option. Several studies have shown that to be the case.

 

There are cases where perhaps a baby born at home might have fared better or survived if he/she was born in a hospital; however, there are babies who die as a result of respiratory distress from unnecessary c/s, hospital infections, etc.. Each setting has its own unique set of risks.

[snipsnsnailsx5]

Wow sounds like you had a great hospital!

 

Mine wasn't bad - not as bad as other's I've heard. Yikes.

 

There was great breastfeeding support - no bottles or pacifiers even given to my babies at all (I've had all five in a hospital). And there is even a lactation consultant that works in the postpartum unit to help nursing moms. However the nurses are all well-versed in breastfeeding and will do a good job helping with basic latch issues. If they can't solve it though, they call for the lactation consultant. :)

 

However we JUST this year finally got rid of the nursery. Before then the babies would mostly be in mom's room, but would go to the nursery if she wanted the baby to or if the nurses thought mom needed to sleep. My babies always stayed in my room though. I think once they kept one of my babies for a couple hours after his hearing test to let me get a quick nap. They brought him to me as soon as he started fussing and wanted to eat though.

 

Now though, my hospital doesn't even have a nursery. ALL babies must room in with mom. :)

 

We also have room service like meals. We have a menu in which we call the number and order what we want when we want to eat. Its soooo great. I was nervous the first time and just ordered a small amount, I didn't want to be a pig! lol The lady on the other end said "is that all you want? New moms usually order a lot more!" lol.

 

The rooms are pretty standard though. Uncomfortable bed, annoying TV that you have to just push one button to go through all the channels (so if you miss one you have to keep going through them all to come back to it. lol) In fact they used to be mostly shared rooms (AAACK!) until just this year when the new rooms were upgraded and made only private. YESSS Even my Dh can stay the night now! :)

 

I am using a midwife but she only delivers in the hospital - so I get all the same care, even using an epidural if I want. :) She can even assist with c-sections.

 

I considered the birthing center, which was not connected to the hospital and which you'd have to go home after about 2-4 hrs after having the baby. The idea of not having to sleep in that uncomfortable hospital bed for 1-2 nights was nice. As well as not having nurses come in every couple hours and take the baby's or my temp - usually waking him up and me getting VERY little sleep... lol

But I do like being away from home (I have five rowdy boys) for a couple days and getting food brought to me during that time (and not feeling the least bit guilty about it!). I also like having baby closely monitored incase something DOES go wrong that I'm not trained to catch or notice.

[twoxcell]

I had 4 wonderful hospital birth experiences. The first with an excellent OB, and the rest with a wonderful CNM. Our hospital is much like the OP described. All of mine breastfed and the nurses were completely supportive. I was never given an episiotomy, my Dr.'s helped stretch. All of my babies cords were left to pulse out, and they were laid immediately on me. My dh stayed with me the entire time and anyone one else I wanted was allowed even my other children. My babies stayed with me the entire time. The only thing I didn't like was the bed's they are not comfortable and they hurt my tailbone after the birth. I know this is not the norm though and that makes me sad.

Edited September 3, 2011 by twoxcell

[Sara R]

 

Now though, my hospital doesn't even have a nursery. ALL babies must room in with mom. :)

 

 

Do you know what they do if Mom is too sick to take care of the baby? I was a drugged (post-c-section) and inexperienced mom with my first baby. She quit breathing while breastfeeding and I didn't even notice it. I don't know what would have happened if my mom hadn't been there with me (in the middle of the night) and noticed it in time. That daughter is my Aspie, and I always wonder if that oxygen loss had any effects...

 

Moms go through a lot in getting their kids into the world, and they are often dealing with their own health needs, and their mothering might be compromised because of that (especially for a first-time mom, which does not apply to present company). I imagine I'm far from the only person who has had a close call (or worse) with a new baby, and not everyone can have a support person in the room with them at all times.

[boscopup]

Too many people assume that things always go right, and while they do the majority of time, what if?

 

Too many people assume that midwives have no ability to handle medical emergencies. Some people are shocked when I tell them my midwife gave me O2 during labor. They seem to think these are untrained women with nothing on hand but herbs? :confused: She carries the same medications the hospitals use to stop hemorrhaging, she is trained in neonatal resuscitation (the EMTs in my area are NOT trained in it, so I wouldn't want an ambulance birth!), and she's not afraid to call EMTs or the hospital if an emergency transfer is necessary.

 

I went into out-of-hospital birth having assessed the risks and being FULLY aware that things don't always go right (my midwife lists in her contract how many babies have died during her attendance in the last 20 years, and she talked about each case before taking me on). I've never met anyone who believed all homebirths go right. Not all hospital births go right either. There are risks to both, and which one is right for you will depend on 1) what type of pregnancy you're having (obviously, high-risk = hospital), 2) where you feel most comfortable, 3) what type of hospital you have nearby, 4) what type of out-of-hospital options you have nearby (if any), 5) proximity to a hospital in case of an emergency (if you're 3 hours from the hospital, homebirth is probably not a good option).

 

I wouldn't be horribly opposed to birthing in a hospital that left me alone and let a midwife attend me... no IV, using a tub, etc. I just don't have that option here. I chose the safest option for me, since my local hospital was NOT practicing evidence based medicine, putting both me and my baby at risk. I had to fight tooth and nail for my (and my baby's) safety.

 

There are what if's on both sides. You have to weigh the risks for your particular situation.

[boscopup]

The only thing I didn't like was the bed's they are not comfortable and they hurt my tailbone after the birth.

 

The L&D beds were horrible! I forgot about that! I was lucky and labored in the antepartum unit where they had real mattresses, but when I first got to the hospital (4 days earlier), I was in L&D for several hours. I couldn't sleep. Those beds HURT. I do not understand why the beds in a labor room would be rock hard and so uncomfortable. :confused:

[Carrie12345]

Adding to mine...

 

One of my babies was born in a rather urban hospital. They did not demand to take her to the nursery, but they told me up front that if I sent her, they couldn't promise when they'd get the chance to bring her back. :001_huh: So I never sent her.

Unfortunately, the bathroom was not large enough to roll the baby bucket into (which it was in the other two hospitals I've used), and this was a very large, very busy place, so I wasn't about to leave her out in the room. Nurses weren't available to pop in for 5 minutes.

 

I wound up dedicating one of my pillows to bathroom use, so she could lay on the floor in the bathroom while I tended to post-partum business. It was miserable. I was so happy to be living elsewhere when her sister was born 13 months later!

[Peela]

My first was a hospital birth because she came too early for the birthing centre to accept me in, although that was where I was planning to give birth.

If my dh wasn't as strong as he is, and I wasn't as determined as I am...I would definitely have had a caesarian birth. I was taking too long. But the baby wasn't in stress at all, so there was no real reason to cut me open other than we were taking too long for them. We got through with a vag birth and some pain relief, and I certainly feel the experience wasn't too bad overall...but again, I feel that is largely because of how strongly dh and I spoke out and were really clear and educated.

The other unfortunate part of the hospital was the midwife changing shift every few hours, so not having one midwife for the birth, but many over 2 days of labour.

I do not like the patronising control of doctors over the birthing process and babies. I had to go back to hosptial for 3 days with dd because she was jaundiced, and I had to go to war with them to leave again- they treated me like an idiot, and I don't appreciate that much.

 

It sounds like the OP has had experiences very similar to birthing centres. My 2nd was born at a birthing centre and it was amazing- it was a country birthing centre, only new and it only lasted a year before being shut down- and I was the only person giving birth there at the time. I knew my midwife. It was awesome.

 

No one was EVER going to take my baby away from me for a second, or discourage me from breastfeeding - hospital or other. But I feel sorry for people who just trust the system and aren't as educated and strong about it.

[ktgrok]

It means safety. My dd was born with a serious birth defect, and had she not been in the hospital, without medical intervention being prompt, she would not be here. Too many people assume that things always go right, and while they do the majority of time, what if?

 

Well, first, homebirth doesn't mean do intervention. There is equipment at home to resuscitate a baby (or mom) if need be. The baby would be given oxygen until transferred to the hospital, either by ambulance or by car. Also, personally, I like good long anatomy scans in pregnancy, to try to identify any birth defects that would compromise the safety of homebirth.Obviously you can't rule everything out, but knowing that the heart has been looked at from every angle makes me feel more confident that the baby will tolerate labor and birth.

 

For me, too many people assume that hospital birth always goes right, and while it does the majority of the time, what if? I bet the woman who lost her limbs from a hospital acquired infection in my town wishes she had had a homebirth! It goes both ways. No place removes all the risks when it comes to birth.

[WishboneDawn]

The few Canadians I know who gave birth in Canada have very different experiences from yours.

 

Yup. Sounds like the country you're in has just about nothing to do with the quality of the experience considering the huge range here.

[8circles]

Yup. Sounds like the country you're in has just about nothing to do with the quality of the experience considering the huge range here.

 

yeah, I think its a mixed bag all around.

[MrsJewelsRae]

Our hospital has adds up all over town about "Breast is Best" and "Skin to Skin, Everyone Wins"! Everytime I see one I want to spit and scream because it is all lies! I'm in a small city (45,000) in Ontario, Canada. My hospital experience sucked. For my first (9 yrs ago). In the 3 hrs I was there I was examined vaginally over 20 times, which was terribly upsetting to me, and they did it while I was in the midst of contractions. The on call OB broke my water without my permission- while I was held down by nurses- in the middle of a contraction- they even waited until they sent my dh out of the room to make a phone call- it was so painful I screamed loud enough to be heard down the other end of the hall in the waiting room- 3 doors between us.

 

I wanted to go med free, stated this clearly but was told by the nurses that it was only going to get worse and I should take it while I had the chance, repeatedly pressured to take the drugs. I refused, but it was very frightening and disheartening to me. I was forced to push flat on my back with my knees up by my head, with nurses screaming in my face for me to purple push and thus tore so badly I could barely walk for a week, couldn't sit for weeks. I got to hold my son right away, only because my midwife finally arrived at that point and they let her take over.

 

My son had trouble latching so the nurses took him from me instead of getting me good help, and fed him a bottle in the nursery- completely against my will. Then they refused to bring him back for over an hour. I finally had to threaten that I would drag myself down the hall to get him myself if they didn't bring him to me immediately. Twice more he was fed formula before we left (and he was already nursing at that point) because we had to prove that we could figure out how to cup feed him formula if the need arose. :glare: I was told he had to stay in the bassinet while I was laying down and I finally told them he was my baby and I'd hold him whenever I wanted.

 

I also had a saline IV hooked up to me pumping saline in my body for hours on end- I had pre eclampsia so I was already hideously swollen and the saline was causing painful swelling. They refused to take it out, even though my blood was now backing up into the saline bag, so I had to remove it myself. They made me sit on frozen pads to help the tearing, I swear I had a case of frost bite on top of the tearing!

 

They also let visitors into my room without my permission or even WARNING ME!! They told me I needed to shower down the hall and my dh needed to help me so they would watch the baby for me. I did it as quick as possible and when I got back to my room, blood dripping down my legs, I was shocked to find my dh's aunt and her 6 kids in my room holding MY baby!! The nurses didn't even check with me to make sure we knew them! WTH!!!?? They did it again while I was in the washroom in my room, they let my inlaws in without telling me.

 

Overall, I was bullied and treated like an idiot who knew nothing, I left the hospital feeling violated and scared of ever having to go back there.

 

My 2nd was born at home with midwives, it was beautiful, peaceful, empowering and healing, plus my ds got to be there.

 

My 3rd was a planned homebirth, but I went overdue and my blood pressure went up once so I was sent to the hospital for a NST. The on call doc told me I had pre eclampsia , despite my bloodwork and urine being normal! He said it was because I was having a boy, he knew. :001_huh: He told me he called my midwives to tell them I was being induced in 2 days and I was not a candidate for homebirth. I was all alone, and I was bullied into changing into a gown, the doctor told me he had to examine me and being pregnant and vulnerable and scared I did what I was told (wish I could go back and tell him to screw off). He didn't just examine me, he did a stretch and sweep without any warning or permission. It was the worst pain I've ever felt, I immediately began sobbing and screaming, yet he did not stop. He left the room with me shaking and sobbing, by the time my dh got there, having raced to my side, he found me in the bathroom on the floor, throwing up and shaking so hard I needed help to walk. It was a very traumatizing experience. This was not in the dark ages, it was 2 years ago.

 

I went into labor on my own and met my midwives at the hospital and it was just us in the delivery room, no one else. The Ob that had examined me the day before popped his head into the room afterwards (thankfully he was not on duty during the birth) and held his hands up and said "They say I've got magic fingers" - taking credit for putting me in labor due to the stretch and sweep. :blink: We left 3 hrs after he was born so no one would bother us, even still, I was yelled at for carrying my baby in the hall and there was some drama between my dh and some hospital exec in the hallway because we dared to carry our child in the hospital, the rule is the baby must be in a bassinet or carseat at all time unless one is sitting. My dh angrily said to her that "this is why we wanted to have a homebirth" and the lady shot back rudely "well you're not at home, you're in my hospital, so put the baby in the carseat or I'm calling security"!!!! Ooooh how I wanted to plant my fist in her face!!!

 

Ok, I've written a novel, so I'll leave it at that. Sorry, once I get started it all just spills out...It's no wonder I hate the hospital.

[happyhomemaker25]

Our hospital has adds up all over town about "Breast is Best" and "Skin to Skin, Everyone Wins"! Everytime I see one I want to spit and scream because it is all lies! I'm in a small city (45,000) in Ontario, Canada. My hospital experience sucked. For my first (9 yrs ago). In the 3 hrs I was there I was examined vaginally over 20 times, which was terribly upsetting to me, and they did it while I was in the midst of contractions. The on call OB broke my water without my permission- while I was held down by nurses- in the middle of a contraction- they even waited until they sent my dh out of the room to make a phone call- it was so painful I screamed loud enough to be heard down the other end of the hall in the waiting room- 3 doors between us.

 

I wanted to go med free, stated this clearly but was told by the nurses that it was only going to get worse and I should take it while I had the chance, repeatedly pressured to take the drugs. I refused, but it was very frightening and disheartening to me. I was forced to push flat on my back with my knees up by my head, with nurses screaming in my face for me to purple push and thus tore so badly I could barely walk for a week, couldn't sit for weeks. I got to hold my son right away, only because my midwife finally arrived at that point and they let her take over.

 

My son had trouble latching so the nurses took him from me instead of getting me good help, and fed him a bottle in the nursery- completely against my will. Then they refused to bring him back for over an hour. I finally had to threaten that I would drag myself down the hall to get him myself if they didn't bring him to me immediately. Twice more he was fed formula before we left (and he was already nursing at that point) because we had to prove that we could figure out how to cup feed him formula if the need arose. :glare: I was told he had to stay in the bassinet while I was laying down and I finally told them he was my baby and I'd hold him whenever I wanted.

 

I also had a saline IV hooked up to me pumping saline in my body for hours on end- I had pre eclampsia so I was already hideously swollen and the saline was causing painful swelling. They refused to take it out, even though my blood was now backing up into the saline bag, so I had to remove it myself. They made me sit on frozen pads to help the tearing, I swear I had a case of frost bite on top of the tearing!

 

They also let visitors into my room without my permission or even WARNING ME!! They told me I needed to shower down the hall and my dh needed to help me so they would watch the baby for me. I did it as quick as possible and when I got back to my room, blood dripping down my legs, I was shocked to find my dh's aunt and her 6 kids in my room holding MY baby!! The nurses didn't even check with me to make sure we knew them! WTH!!!?? They did it again while I was in the washroom in my room, they let my inlaws in without telling me.

 

Overall, I was bullied and treated like an idiot who knew nothing, I left the hospital feeling violated and scared of ever having to go back there.

 

My 2nd was born at home with midwives, it was beautiful, peaceful, empowering and healing, plus my ds got to be there.

 

My 3rd was a planned homebirth, but I went overdue and my blood pressure went up once so I was sent to the hospital for a NST. The on call doc told me I had pre eclampsia , despite my bloodwork and urine being normal! He said it was because I was having a boy, he knew. :001_huh: He told me he called my midwives to tell them I was being induced in 2 days and I was not a candidate for homebirth. I was all alone, and I was bullied into changing into a gown, the doctor told me he had to examine me and being pregnant and vulnerable and scared I did what I was told (wish I could go back and tell him to screw off). He didn't just examine me, he did a stretch and sweep without any warning or permission. It was the worst pain I've ever felt, I immediately began sobbing and screaming, yet he did not stop. He left the room with me shaking and sobbing, by the time my dh got there, having raced to my side, he found me in the bathroom on the floor, throwing up and shaking so hard I needed help to walk. It was a very traumatizing experience. This was not in the dark ages, it was 2 years ago.

 

I went into labor on my own and met my midwives at the hospital and it was just us in the delivery room, no one else. The Ob that had examined me the day before popped his head into the room afterwards (thankfully he was not on duty during the birth) and held his hands up and said "They say I've got magic fingers" - taking credit for putting me in labor due to the stretch and sweep. :blink: We left 3 hrs after he was born so no one would bother us, even still, I was yelled at for carrying my baby in the hall and there was some drama between my dh and some hospital exec in the hallway because we dared to carry our child in the hospital, the rule is the baby must be in a bassinet or carseat at all time unless one is sitting. My dh angrily said to her that "this is why we wanted to have a homebirth" and the lady shot back rudely "well you're not at home, you're in my hospital, so put the baby in the carseat or I'm calling security"!!!! Ooooh how I wanted to plant my fist in her face!!!

 

Ok, I've written a novel, so I'll leave it at that. Sorry, once I get started it all just spills out...It's no wonder I hate the hospital.

 

Your post just made me cry. I am so sorry for this experience. I'm picturing my DH punching the Dr in the face. It's a nice picture, for the record! I just wanted you to know that my heart hurt for you and I hope that you have healed from that traumatic experience. :grouphug:

[happyhomemaker25]

I had a pretty good hospital experience with Miss Lily. My birth plan was not followed and DH who was raised by a nurse really did not want to argue with the Dr. or nurses. I was too scared to. I was started on Pitocin when we got there but they did not pressure me to have an epidural. I was hooked up to the IV because of my blood sugar issues. I had to have a continual monitor because of the pitocin, but the nurses brought in a potty chair (an amazing labor device!!) and a rocking chair which I alternated using. I also was allowed to walk around my bed which helped.

After 10 hours on the Pitocin drip I ended up with an epidural. No one pressured me but I was only at 6cm and afraid that I would not be able to push when the time came. I was so worn out. It was still another 9 hours before my baby showed up. Towards the end one of the nurses checked me and found some swelling. She decided to let me labor on my side for another hour before telling the C-Section happy OB. The baby was not in distress so we had time. An hour later I was pushing. I will always be thankful for that nurse. She stayed a couple of hours after her shift ended and when she had to go she hand picked another fantastic nurse for me. She even called the other nurse later to find out how I'd done.

The room was huge and my baby was with my almost the whole time. She ended up having to have antibiotics because of an infection but they always let us go down to the nursery with her when she was getting them. Other than that they pretty much left us alone. They encouraged BFing and had the best LC in town. She helped me a lot. Because of some of the problems I had with my milk not coming in she even gave me her home phone number.

It was all in all a great experience.

[DusksAngel]

All 3 of my kids have been induced. My blood pressure starts going up the last month or so of my pregnancies, was even on modified bed rest with L.

 

With G, I was under care of residents. I was told I was over-reacting when I came in with high bp (once it was 179/111) and sent home. When my water broke, the resident tried to insist that I had just peed even though I had just gone to the bathroom. The nurses corrected him. When I told the next nurse that I needed to push she told me it was too soon. Then checked me and realized I was ready to go. I had gotten an epidural, but it failed. They were going to redo it but it was already too late.

Even being told that I was going to breastfeed and having one nurse spend a lot of time trying to help, I was told to give him a pacifier, and I'm pretty sure he was given a bottle while in the nursery for his "bath and exam" which took a few hours. So he went home on formula. :glare:

I wasn't allowed to go to the bathroom by myself until the next morning. I was able to keep him with me, although asked repeatedly if I didn't want him to go to the nursery. And you gave birth in one room and were taken to a different floor for recovery and you shared a room.

 

With the girls, I was in a different hospital. I loved it! I stayed in the same room the whole time. Most of the nurses were wonderful. The baby stayed in my room except for a short bath in the evening when they also weighed them and took vitals. The nurses really took time to make you feel like they were there for you. I did have one nurse during my second daughter who was a horses' butt, but I knew enough by then to ignore the crap and ask someone else any questions I had. I also had 2 amazing doctors during this time.

[lailasmum]

I've had one home birth and one hospital birth. my first was home birth and second hospital.

 

The hospital birth was a pretty horrible experience. I was very overdue so had 4 sweeps over 5 days and finally had my waters broken. The last day basically involved lots of hearing of horrible things, that my blood pressure was too high bad things so were happening and that I needed drugs and then being left in a room and forgotten about for hours without any of the drugs that were supposed to help me (turns out I was fine so luckily no harm done).

 

We eventually tracked down a midwife as I was hungry but wasn't supposed to leave, eventually found a limp sandwich for me. Finally said we were leaving and they found a room for us.

 

The room had broken lighting, broken bed-the brakes wouldn't hold so it kept sliding about, gas and air tube kept falling off etc. Dirty toilets on the ward. Saw a nice midwife to begin with, very pleasant, respectful woman. Unfortunately she went off shift part way through and switched to another midwife who seemed to hate her life, horrible woman. There was one midwife between 2 women so she kept leaving us. I was so fast though that it got to the point that she couldnt, I was worrying about the other woman left on her own.

 

I was given the injection to seperate the placenta we believe contributed to my son's jaundice, this was something I had said no to in my birth plan, I am so fast giving birth it wasn't like I would be taking up their precious room for that long.

 

The wards were hugely over heated, like dripping with sweat hot not pleasantly warm. We weren't allowed to take our babies any where other than in the ward so kept having to leave him to go to the toilet.

 

I ended up with a couple of infections which my midwife put down to all the interference and I beleive the antibiotics caused problems with my sons teeth as he has malformed enamel.

 

At home there were 2 midwives for the birth, they come with lots of equipment and some items are left before hand. It was just so nice in comparison. We felt cared for rather than a hassle.

Edited September 3, 2011 by lailasmum

[Coffeetime]

So I just wonder now if my experience was rare, some special Canuckistan privilege or those of us with good hospital birth stories just tend to be quieter about it.

 

I've often wondered this as well.

All five of my children were born in the same hospital and my birth experiences sound just like yours. I loved it.

My hospital *insists* on baby rooming in unless NICU is involved. They *insist* on at least 1 full hour of "skin to skin" time immediately after baby is born. They encourage breast feeding and even have a lactation consultant visit during your stay -and call a few days after to make sure all is going well. Big, homey birthing rooms with jetted tubs. Supportive, wonderful nursing staff.

FWIW, we live in a fairly rural area- not a tiny town but definitely not a "big city" and I wonder if that makes a difference...

[LostSurprise]

I have 4 births and have given birth in both a large urban and small rural hospital setting.

 

In my experience a lot of the birthing experience depends on how strongly (but politely) you and your dh stick up for the birth you want.

 

My first birth, in a busy urban setting was nightmarish...from both sides. The labor nurse yelled at me, told me I lied about my last period, and made me do purple pushing. The doctor did automatic episiotomies for first time mothers. When I had trouble breastfeeding the lactation consultant told me I just wasn't trying hard enough and that any woman could breastfeed..its foolproof.

 

My next three were all in a small town hospital in a rural area. I had the most conservative OB..the surgeon no less...who thought no woman should have to be in pain they should either be dosed with medication or knocked out for surgery. :tongue_smilie:

 

Despite this I:

 

*had 3 births with no pain medication

*chose to have an episiotomy only in an emergency

*had no interventions

*was not told how to push, how little noise to make, how to do my job

*had control over when I was physically checked, was requested things--not told to do things

*gave birth sitting up with no stirrups

*was requested not to eat solid foods, but was not stopped from eating as long as labor remained normal

*was allowed to hold my babies as soon as their airways were clear, even before being cleaned up

*had my baby in with me 24 hours a day

*only had nursery testing when dh or myself could be with him

*was allowed to keep the baby in bed with me when napping

*had gentle nudging toward breastfeeding immediately, and at all stages

*was allowed to come in at any time to see the LC

*was allowed to come in (after checkout) and have my son weighed at any time, or his jaundice level checked

 

All this with a doctor a friend of mine (with a birth plan) was anti- modern birth. I guess he and I found a balance. I made my own decisions and stood my ground, and gave him the respect that he could do his job on the items where it was his job. He did the same for me.

 

Lots of things I didn't know I could have at first. Have the baby right away? Dh requested that at my 3rd birth. After clearing his eyes and nose and administering oxygen...they did. Eat? Wouldn't have thought of it but one birth went long and dh brought me apple sauce and pudding. No one said anything. Sitting up during birth? No one blinked. The doctor just requested a higher stool and joked that they better hurry before the crowned.

 

Experience is the best armor.

[LizzyBee]

A friend once told me that she was so glad she didn't have to give birth in the hospital, flat on her back and feet in stirrups. I thought, what? I wasn't flat on my back and I never even saw any stirrups. When she had her 2nd, we took her oldest to visit at the birthing center. I was so glad I didn't have to give birth there! :lol:

[twoforjoy]

I had two wonderful hospital births and one so-so one. The so-so one was with my DD, and the main issue was that there were a number of high-risk births going on that night, and so they ended up being understaffed.

 

But, with my DD and the new LO, my post-delivery hospital stay was wonderful. With my first, the birth was great, but the post-delivery stay was so-so. I didn't get much support with breastfeeding and we constantly had people coming into the room.

 

My last birth was awesome. The birth part was great, and the post-delivery stuff was wonderful, too.

 

My only significant complaint about hospital births is that in both hospitals, while they've been really cooperative about how I labor, they insisted I be in the bed lying down to push. I was able to be sitting up somewhat with my last, because I really fought lying down, but I still was in a reclined position.

 

I hate pushing that way. I would much, much rather push while upright. If we have a fourth, and we can afford it, I'd seriously consider a homebirth, simply because I'd want the opportunity to push in whatever position I'm most comfortable in, which is not lying down on my back.

[bettyandbob]

All 3 of my dc were born in the hospital

 

For my first dc, it meant I cold be monitored after complications from preeclampsia (serious complications). The birth of my first dc was not expected to be complicated, but everything I needed was right there when I needed it.

 

For my third dc, it meant he was close to the NICU, where he needed to be for a week. The birth of my third dc was not expected to be complicated, but everything he needed was right there when he needed it.

 

The birth of my second dc was not complicated. It was cozy and comfortable, drug free vaginal delivery. After she was born, she stayed with dh and I and everyone left us alone. Had the situation been complicated, all the help we could have needed was there.

[momma2three]

I loved the nursery. It was the best part of the hospital stay, LOL. I'm not sure I think nursery less hospitals are a great idea. I definitely needed to nap and recuperate a little. With DS it would have been fine, but my 2 DDs were not interested in letting me get any rest in the hospital.

[HRAAB]

All of my five children were born in a hospital with the same experience as the OP. I couldn't have asked for a better experience, imo, and that's probably why I never considered a home birth.

[happyhomemaker25]

I will say my Bradley coach told us to bring food in. She said once you were admitted to the hospitals in FL that you could not be kicked out. I had some yogurt and water with me. Good thing to, because baby girl was born at 10:08 p.m. and they tried to give me some old tired sandwich. :glare:

 

My OB came in and asked if I wanted some broth. The nurses all looked at him in surprise. I guess he did not usually do that. He was trying to be progressive bless his heart. LOL

[stripe]

I had the best and least invasive care at the giant teaching hospital I'd been avoiding. Everything was done in the room --bath, hearing test, you name it. My baby was never taken away and everyone was awesome. I wish I'd known it would be so nice. Including people actually knocking before opening the door!

[Barb_]

Yes, I wish they did some of that stuff differently, but I can't really complain, because I don't think any of us are suffering any long term effects. :D

 

I disagree. My first hospital birth was bad enough to leave mental and physical lasting scars. I was barely 21 and single, mourning the loss of the relationship I thought was going to last, and vulnerable. When I arrived at the hospital in active labor I was parked by the nurse's station and warned not to move because it was crowded and not safe. Also there were no rooms available, so I would have to stay in the hall until a one was free. They found me a room no bigger than a closet...seriously, the bed and maybe three people fit in there. I had been doing my reading and asked for a hep lock and intermittant monitering, but was told no and was hooked up to the monitor and the IV and was prodded every 30 minutes or so to see if I was progressing. I wanted an epidural, but they lost my bloodwork and had to repeat it. I finally got my epidural when I was 8cm and vomiting. I never saw the OB until I was ready to push...I mean I had literally never met him. I thought I knew them all but he came out of the woodwork. Well, actually from the doctor's lounge where he'd been sacked out. They reclined me with my feet in stirrups and told me to push, HARD. They must not have known what my young muscles were going to be capable of because the doctor (who up until that moment had been sleeping) DROPPED my daughter as she shot out, barely grabbing her by the feet. I didn't know about any of this though (Mom told me later) because I was woozy from the blood loss from my 4th degree tear resulting from the episiotomy I begged him not to give me AS HE PROCEEDED TO DO IT ANYWAY. I remember wondering if the docotor had cut himself with the sharp instruments as I stared at all the blood all over the floor. I was not okay.

 

Soon afterward we had a shift change and the sweet nurturing nurse was replaced by a crass, gum-chewing, b*tch. As she was making bread dough out of my belly, she asked my mom point-blank if she was going to kill me for having a baby out of wedlock. My mom said no, we would all love her regardless, she told her, "Well, you're more supportive than me...I'd hang my daughter if she went and did something like that." After that I tried to tune her out as she went on a rant about 'kids today'. I felt violated.

 

Again, they couldn't find a room for me so they left me sitting in the hallway until they could move some people around. I was white from blood loss and could hardly sit up, but she had me supporting my breakfast tray for close to 20 minutes. I probably should have allowed to fall...that would have gotten them hopping...but I was so ashamed and traumatized by that point that I didn't want to draw any more attention to myself. The next day I was catheterized through my stitches and torn muscle wall without so much as a local. They told me to do my lamaze breathing :001_huh: Meanwhile, I was getting phone calls multiple times a day asking how I planned to pay for my hospital stay since no one had given them the memo I was on a Cobra plan. Oh and I was scolded and my baby removed because I fell asleep nursing her.

 

It was horrible. I still feel like crying when I think about it 21 years later.